INDIA in F1

Tag: Mahaveer Radhunathan

  • Aitken asserts his ability with first F2 Feature Race win; Mahaveer Raghunathan 11th

    Campos driver climbs seven places to seal Feature Race win in Baku 
    Baku, 27 April 2019: Jack Aitken proved unflappable as he sealed his first ever FIA Formula 2 Feature Race win in chaotic circumstances, at Baku, Azerbaijan. The Campos driver remained composed and surged through the pack, to steer clear of the drama playing out behind him, finishing ahead of ART Grand Prix’s Nyck De Vries and MP Motorsport’s Jordan King.
    Indian driver Mahaveer Raghunathan of MP Motorsport finished 11th.
    Aitken laid the foundations for his win from the start, on a dry and sunny afternoon at the Baku City Circuit. The Brit started from eighth on the grid, but flew to third on Turn 1, slaloming around his competitors. Also on the up was Dutchman De Vries, who flashed in-front of polesitter Nobuharu Matsushita at the start.
    Chaos played out behind them, as the Trident drivers collided, forcing Giuliano Alesi into an early retirement. Louis Delétraz had done well to weave through the collision, but Callum Ilott wasn’t as lucky. He was forced into a front wing change, having been caught up in the crash.
    The Safety Car was deployed and when the track was clear, the race resumed with De Vries keeping the lead. Matsushita then suffered further frustration as issues with his car saw him plummet down the grid, before pitting.  He eventually returned but was already a lap behind the rest of the racers.
    Aitken’s first sight of the race lead was handed to him by De Vries, after the ART Grand Prix driver fell foul to a slow pit stop. Tatiana Calderon was the only driver to opt for the alternate strategy and the Colombian led the way after the rest of the cars pitted. The safety car was deployed once more to clean up Mick Schumacher’s PREMA Racing car, after he had spun to a stop in sector 3.
    Aitken was back on top after he passed Calderon who lost further places to drivers on fresher tyres. The Campos driver was fast being chased by De Vries, who had squeezed past Nicholas Latifi for P2. Further back, King was on the attack and had already stolen P8 from Anthoine Hubert, when Dorian Boccolacci went wide on the final corner, to gift him P7.
    The front three were in a league of their own at the front and race leader Aitken had built up a healthy gap to De Vries, but a third safety car period after Guanyu Zhou had slammed into the barrier after getting too close to the back of Juan Manuel Correa reduced that gap to almost nothing.
    With the safety car still out there, Calderon slowed to a stop down the main straight, with the BWT Arden team ready for her to pit. Further chaos ensued after the Safety Car came in and the race restart was aborted when two more cars were lost: Sérgio Sette Câmara spun on track and was forced to clamber out of his car, while, further behind him Louis Delétraz made contact with the back of Boccolacci and was out of his car too.
    Sean Gelael had taken advantage of the turmoil on track to finish off his ascent from the back of the grid. The PREMA man had started P19, but by the time racing resumed, he was up to seventh.
    King soared around Latifi at the restart, with Aitken looking to re-increase the gap between himself and second placed De Vries. The Dutchman briefly got to within touching distance of DRS range with just a minute to go, but the Brit found further speed from his Campos and couldn’t be touched by the ART driver at the chequered flag. Behind them, King kept his place in third, for his first ever F2 podium. Also in the points were Latifi, Boccolacci, Luca Ghiotto, Gelael, Correa, Nikita Mazepin and Anthoine Hubert.
    Racing will recommence tomorrow in the Sprint Race, as Juan Manuel Correa starts on pole in the reverse place grid, with further drama almost a certainty on this unpredictable Baku City Circuit.
    2019 FIA Formula 2 Championship – Baku Feature Race Provisional Classification
    DRIVER
    TEAM
    1
    Jack Aitken
    Campos Racing
    2
    Nyck de Vries
    ART Grand Prix
    3
    Jordan King
    MP Motorsport
    4
    Nicholas Latifi
    DAMS
    5
    Dorian Boccolacci
    Campos Racing
    6
    Luca Ghiotto
    UNI-Virtuosi Racing
    7
    Sean Gelael
    PREMA Racing
    8
    Juan Manuel Correa
    Sauber Junior Racing by Charouz
    9
    Nikita Mazepin
    ART Grand Prix
    10
    Anthoine Hubert
    BWT Arden
    11
    Mahaveer Raghunathan
    MP Motorsport
    12
    Ralph Boschung
    Trident
    13
    Nobuharu Matsushita
    Carlin
    NOT CLASSIFIED
    Sérgio Sette Câmara
    DAMS
    Louis Delétraz
    Carlin
    Callum Ilott
    Sauber Junior Racing by Charouz
    Tatiana Calderon
    BWT Arden
    Guanyu Zhou
    UNI-Virtuosi Racing
    Mick Schumacher
    PREMA Racing
    Giuliano Alesi
    Trident
    OVERALL FASTEST LAP
    Nobuharu Matsushita – 1:56.778 – Lap 25
    FASTEST LAP ELIGIBLE FOR POINTS
    Jack Aitken (Campos Racing)
  • Mahaveer gets another podium finish

    Mahaveer gets another podium finish

    Mahaveer Raghunathan in action at BRNO. Image by Mahaveer Racing team

    Emerging Indian racer Mahaveer Raghunathan ended his eventful outing in the six round of the Boss GP on a high in Brno, CZ by clinching yet another podium finish. The 18 year old came home third in Race 1 on Saturday, to claim his momentum continue on successive podium finishes in all the races of this season.

    Mahaveer who represents Indian Team PS Racing with Collaboration by Coloni Motorsport remains Top in the championship fight with 233 points. The young lad from Chennai is 11 points championship lead from Johann Ledermair of Austria who won race 1 at Brno, CZ this morning.

    The 11 lap Race 1 saw Mahaveer fighting hard with De Plano from the Start of the race. After driving sensibly fighting hard, Mahaveer posted his fastest lap in Lap 1 with a time of 1:49.005.

    “The start of race 1 was not that easy, but everything worked out well. Finally If was a tough race again, but I did my best. The goal was, to increase speed and improve the lap record from Saturday’s race. That worked out well, so finally I’m happy with the performance this week and my overall results,” commented Mahaveer.

    Results: Round 6, Race 1: 11 laps: 1. Johann Ledermair, Austria 20:59.913; 2. Salvatore De Plano, Italy 21:15.262; 3. Mahaveer Raghunathan India 21;16.339.

    Championship Standings (top three, after 11 races out of 14 races)

    1. Mahaveer Raghunathan (India) 233 points
    2. Johann Ledermair (Austria) 222 points
    3. Salvatore De Plano (Italy) 221 points

     eom/MahaveerRacing press release